| The mission of the Oklahoma Ecological Service Contaminants
program is to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife
and their habitats by identifying, preventing, and restoring
the effects of contaminants through collaboration with other
Federal, Tribal, State, and local agencies as well as our
partners in the academia, industry and the public.
Spill Preparedness and Response
Environmental Contaminants biologists are trained to respond
to oil spills, and other hazardous material spills, throughout
Oklahoma. We work with tribes and state and federal agencies
to keep oil away from areas where migratory birds, endangered
species and other wildlife are located. Before a spill event
happens, we prepare for spill responses by planning clean-up
efforts with response agencies, oil companies, and local committees
and to identify sensitive environments and discuss strategies
for protecting and treating them during a spill.
Restoration
Environmental Contaminants biologists, through the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service (FWS) Natural Resource Damage Assessment
and Restoration (NRDAR) program, play a major role in restoring
habitats and natural resources injured by the release oil
spills or hazardous substances. We work with tribal, state
and other federal natural resource agencies to plan and implement
restoration activities to compensate for injury to fish, wildlife
and their habitats from the releases. For more information
at the national level, please visit the Department of Interior's
NRDAR site here.
Reporting Oil and Chemical Spills
The National Response Center (NRC) is the sole federal point
of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills. If you have
a spill to report, please call the NRC at (800) 424-8802 or
visit their site here.
At the state level, to report environmental contaminants
problems in Oklahoma, such as NPDES permit exceedances or
Clean Water Act violations, contact the Oklahoma Department
of Environmental Quality at (800) 522-0206 or visit their
web site here.
For fish die-off complaints on public waters (e.g. streams
and rivers), contact the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
at (405) 424-6062 or (405) 990-7029, or visit their web site
here.
Please also visit the Oklahoma Corporate Commission's Feedback
or Complaints page here
regarding oil, gasoline, pipeline, and other contaminants
issues.
More Information
For more information regarding oil spills, please visit the
FWS's national oil spill site here.
For a copy of the National Environmental Contaminants Program
Strategic Plan 2007-2011, go here
For a copy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's
laws and regulations regarding oil spills, go here. |
